If the music scene today should teach us anything, it would be
to appreciate artists that take risks. Now don't get me wrong -
such bands still exist today, but it seems to me that quotient is
noticeably lower. One doesn't hear Britney Spears or 50 Cent go out
on a limb and completely redefine his/her sound. Thank God bands
like Led Zeppelin did.

Zeppelin's first two albums were absolute monsters; it's hard to
think of a better one-two punch than those two works. That is why
III doesn't get as much respect as it should. How could it
possibly follow the previous two masterpieces? But Zeppelin, in
their own way, went out on a limb and laid the foundation for
future albums. I daresay
III has more in common with
IV and
Houses Of The Holy than
I and
II do.

It was here on
III that Plant, Page, Jones, and Bonham began to experiment
with different sounds and styles. One can hear the seeds of
"Kasmir" being planted with "Friends." The abstract, distorted
eclecticism of "Hats Off To Roy Harper" would be focused into "When
The Levee Breaks." The problem is that these first efforts don't
measure up to their successors. "…Roy Harper," has always
been one of my least favorite Zeppelin tracks; I hear it as the
band saying, "this proves we're really serious musicians willing to
explore." That sentiment should be conveyed subtlety, not
screamed.

Where Zeppelin really shows off their "maturity" is on the
second half of the album, with the acoustic numbers. "Gallows
Pole," "Tangerine," "Bron-Y-Aur," and "That's The Way," are more
effective than anything else on
III, save the classic "Immigrant Song." I would argue that
the acoustic guitar, banjo, and mandolin used on "Gallow's Pole" is
one of Zeppelin's finest moments. Not many rock bands would take
the initiative and create such unique sounds. "Bron-Y-Aur" gets in
your head and doesn't leave for a long time. Both "Tangerine," and
"That's The Way," are touching, with the former invoking a country
vibe that is quite refreshing, and the latter with some gentle
pedal steel guitar that simmers underneath the main track.

Led Zeppelin III easily gets my recommendation; I mean, with
the exception of one album, their entire catalogue is stellar. What
it comes down to is how does it stack up with their absolute
greats? I'm going to come down more on the glass-half-full side of
things. Yes, the band would take what went right on
III and run with it, but the actual quality of the music
remains high. Just think if Zeppelin hadn't gone this route, who
knows what they would have sounded like. We could have ended up
with 5 or 6 clones of
Led Zeppelin II. However, Page and co. took a chance, and it
paid off handsomely.